12

Kate had been talking non stop about where she wanted and needed to take Chas and what she necessarily needed to buy for her. She had already planned out the visit to her dad, which in itself really wasn't a bad thing. After all, no matter what'll happen, she was his next relative. And she even had looked up preschools Chas would like. Rick sat beside her on the couch for over an hour now, listening to her rambling on from one topic to the next without really finishing one.

"Kate" he started but she didn't even hear him speak "Honey, stop!" That was what got him her full attention.

"What?"

"Don't you think you should wait for a few more days before you start planning to visit preschools?"

"What do you mean?" she gave him a quizzical look.

"Our court hearing is in two days. Before then no one knows if she even gets to stay with us"

"What do you mean?" she demanded again, this time anger raging up in her voice. And he didn't miss it.

"I just think you're overreacting!" he couldn't quite read the look she was shooting his way.

"And I just think you don't want her to stay with us!"

"That's so not true and you know that. But the judges need to do what's best for Chastity!"

"And staying with me isn't the best for her!" It wasn't a question but she somehow let it sound like one, too. He choose to answer it anyway.

"That's not what I said!" he defended.

"That's exactly what you said, Rick!"

And with that she left. He heard the front door slam shut as he entered his office – writing ever helped him in such situations. He would've gone after her to apologize and beg her to come home but he knew she needed some time to think now – alone.

Rick knew she was right. He had realized that the moment the words have left his mouth. But there was no taking back what he'd said anymore.

He knew he had accused her of not being the best for Chas. But he didn't mean it like that. All he wanted was to make her see that she couldn't be sure the judges won't give Mellissa Donovan custody for Chas. He never wanted her to think he found her bad as a mother because he already was certain she would be a perfect mother. But the only thing he could do now was hoping she'd return home so they could talk all of this over when they'd cooled down – and he would get the chance to say how sorry he was.

They'd had there fair share of fights; every couple has them now and then. And of course they often ended in one of them needing time to think about everything, and refusing to acknowledge the presence of the other until they had sorted out their feelings. There had been one or two times one or both of them had thought about calling it quits and just end this before they would cause even more damage.

But though all this had already happened it never – never – had been like that.

*falling in love with a vampire* *falling in love with a vampire*

Lanie Parrish hadn't really entered her apartment yet when she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She chose to ignore it and walked into the living, loosing her shoes and coat in the hallway.

"Hi, gorgeous" Esposito awaited her on the couch, getting up when she reached him.

"Hi, yourself" smiling she reached up to kiss him.

They settled on the couch together, her head on his lap.

"There's some dinner in the fridge. I'll get some for you if you want" He was already halfway off the couch when she grabbed his wrist.

"No, it's alright. I'm not really hungry right now"

"Fine, then. How was your day?"

"Nothing I haven't had before. You know, dead people don't talk much" He let out a soft chuckle, moving his fingertips up and down her arm. "How about you? Any gruesome murders you investigated without your favorite ME?"

"Nope" he shook his head "Paperwork, the whole day. Not even one body dropped."

"That's supposed to be a good thing you know. No body generally means no one had been killed" His hand came to rest just above her wrist, and she swatted his hands away with a laugh when he started to tickle her. It was his favorite thing to do since he found out that particular ticklish spot his girlfriend had.

"Yeah, I know, I know. It just makes our jobs that much more boring" he sighted dramatically for effect.

Before she could reply Lanie's cell went off again, but just like before she ignored it. It wasn't anyone from work that she knew because she was officially off work for the next two days. And whoever else was calling her now just needed to wait until Lanie had her well deserved time with the boyfriend she hadn't seen all day.

Therefore she took her cell out off her jeans pocket and placed it on the coffee table, without glancing at the caller ID. She sat back up and shifted so she faced Javier. Then she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. He however had other plans and when she pulled back his hand came up behind her head and pulled her back in. She gladly obeyed and straddled his hips, moving even closer into his space. Her arms crossed behind his neck; his left arm moved up and down her back while his right hand was tangled in her long dark hair. She let out a soft moan when he started to relieve her of the shirt she was wearing and was rudely interrupted by her repeatedly ringing cell phone.

This time it wouldn't stop after two rings. She closed her eyes for a moment, sighting and then reluctantly got up and blindly searched for the annoying device. It was a rather difficult task because her boyfriend constantly tried to distract her. Finally she found what she was looking for and checked the caller ID.

"It's Kate" Lanie said, making an attempt to pick up. Esposito gave her a look that said 'can't this wait?'. "She's off work. This has to be private and important. It's the third time she called me."

"Girl, you have real bad timing"

"I don't really care what you do right now" Lanie went serious when she heard Kate's teary voice. Kate wasn't one to cry so this had to be bad.

"My place in ten minutes"

"Thanks Lanie" they hung up at the same time.

Being in a relationship with Lanie for over two months now, Esposito knew that this was his cue to go and give them two girls at least an hour to themselves, before returning home.

"See you later. Love you!" he sighted and got up from the couch to call Ryan up for drinks.

"Love you, too!" she kissed him quickly before adding "I'll make it up to you later"

With that he left, meeting Ryan for some drinks. He would have asked Castle too, but having Kate calling his girlfriend crying in the middle of the night, let him to believe that Rick may have other things on his mind right now.

Exactly ten minutes later Lanie heard a knock on the door and went to answer it. Before even inviting her in Lanie put her arms around her best friend and gave her a comforting hug. Kate had managed to pull herself together, at least a little bit while talking to Lanie on the phone but now she was crying again.

The ME led Kate into the apartment and guided her over to the living room. She wasn't sure if Kate even really acknowledged where she was or what was happening around her. All she did for a very long time was staring out into space, somehow bracing herself for the conversation with Lanie but simultaneously closing herself up, hoping (praying) to just avoid talking about the issue. But Lanie wouldn't have any of it, after all Kate was the one that had interrupted her well enjoyed make-out session with Javier to have someone to talk to.

Regardless, Lanie didn't push her but just sat aside Kate on the couch waiting for her to be ready to tell. Eventually Kate had calmed down enough to stop crying. But it still took some very long minutes for her to finally start speaking.

"We had a fight!"

"Tell me what happened, honey" Lanie put one arm around Kate's shoulder and hugged her.

"It was about Chas and that court appointment" Kate paused to wipe at some new tears. "He said I wouldn't be the best for Chas"

"He didn't mean that. Don't ever for a moment think so!"

"I know, Lanie. I know! But I left and I don't even blame him for not following" Now Lanie understood what was going on with her best friend. She wasn't mad at him for saying anything, but at her for reacting like she had.

"He just needs time, and so do you. You'll have to think about everything that's been said and then you'll be fine again!"

"What if we're not? What if this finally was the last straw?" She wasn't the type to open up easily and let a guy in completely but she was terrified of losing Rick. Those feelings overwhelmed her sometimes, though but she found that she wouldn't have it any other way.

"You will, trust me!" Seeing Kate's disbelieving look, she went on. "I've watched you two long enough by now to know that you're able to get through anything. You've been through worse the last 3 years. He loves you, Kate and I know you do love him, too." She hadn't heard Kate say those exact words to him yet, but she knew her friend well enough. "There's no way you are not going to make it through that!"

"It's just difficult right now." Kate let out a sigh "So much is happening and I honestly don't know what to do or think. Rick and I are together for only five months and we never talked about family beside from Alexis. Hell, the first time I said 'I love you' was just one month ago. And yet here we are trying to adopt a little girl. Do you even realize how scared I am?"

"You may have officially changed your relationship status five months ago, but you've been 'together' for over three years now. There's nothing to fear girl. If Castle didn't want this as much as you he never would have gotten your hopes up. You know that."

That was exactly the reason Kate had come here of all people she could have talked to. She already knew she had made a mistake by overreacting like she'd done and by storming off. She did not need someone to point that out for her. No, she'd been in need of someone who could convince her with believable reason, beyond any doubt she may have, that everything was going to be alright. Someone just like Lanie.

"I guess I should be going home then. There's something I need to fix." Lanie just nodded flashing Kate a smile "Thanks, Lanie. I'm glad to have a best friend like you"
"Anytime"

*falling in love with a vampire* *falling in love with a vampire*

An hour later Rick was still in his office, sitting in front of an empty word document. He hadn't come up with anything to write because his mind always traveled back to his fight with Kate.

Different emotions filled his mind. He was angry. Angry at himself for saying what he had and angry with her for even considering he could have meant it. But most of all he was afraid that she wouldn't come back, that this fight had destroyed their relationship. Because the reason they did survive all their previous fights with nothing more shed than a few tears and bad words was that it never really was that important. Those fights, their content had been meaningless.

He didn't know what he would do without Kate. He'd loved her for quite a while before they even started dating and he was sure he never would stop loving her. The thought of losing her broke his heart.

When he heard the front door open a glimmer of hope lit up in him. He shut down his laptop, got up and walked into the living room. She stood by the couch, not really sure if she should move or not. When she saw him step out off his study, the ghost of a shy smile danced over her lips, before it vanished again. Her gaze dropped to the floor, studying the patterns of the carpet. At least he's not throwing me out, she thought.

Though it was dark Rick could easily make out the reddish eyes and her tear stained face. He hated himself for being the one who caused that.

After about a minute or two she finally lifted her eyes off the floor and met his'. She stood a few feet away from him, playing with her mother's ring while looking him directly in the eyes.

"I…" he started when he couldn't stand the silence anymore but she shook her head, telling him to stop.

"Don't" she finally said, crossing the distance to stand between him and the couch, placing a finger over his mouth when he wanted to say something else. He could practically hear his heart stop beating. He didn't know what to think. Was she going to break up with him; was she telling him that this wasn't working? Was she going to take the blame all for herself or was she going to push it all on him?

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Rick. I overreacted and I am so sorry. The instant I left I already knew I made a mistake. I was wrong for reacting like I did. But what you said just made me realize that Chas isn't mine – ours – and that there's the possibility of losing her." She leaned back against the back of the couch so she could hold his gaze despite the high difference. "I'm sorry!" she whispered, unshed tears glistening in her eyes.

"I know I shouldn't have said it the way I did and I'm sorry for that. I never wanted you to think I don't want Chas or you in my life, because that's a lie. I want to spend forever with you if you let me." he took her hand in his and she entwined their fingers. Nodding slightly she indicated that she in fact would let him spend forever with her and that there was nothing she'd be wanting more.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to see me" she admitted quietly.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to see me either" he said, squeezing her hand "I don't know what I'd do if you hadn't come back"

"I love you, Rick!" and there was the one tear she'd desperately tried to hold in, making its way down her cheek. With his free hand he gently cupped her chin and wiped the tear away with his thumb.

"I love you, too!" he pulled her towards him and buried his face in her neck for a moment, wrapping his one arm around her waist, before he kissed her lightly on the lips.

They knew they had to talk about it again later, preferably when all this was over and they didn't have anything else on their minds, but right now the more important thing was that they still had each other.